ushernet Chapter 860 At the crucial moment, it still comes down to you, Old Wang.
Chapter 860 At the crucial moment, it still comes down to you, Old Wang.
"We're almost there! That red brick building up ahead is the Communications Department, and a little further inside that green one is the Navigation Assurance Department!"
Jiang Xia gestured to Lao Wang with his eyes towards the green building.
A long-absent "King Yama's cold smile" flashed across Old Wang's face; the tacit understanding between the two brothers was already beyond question.
The moment the sidecar came to a stop, Lao Wang nimbly flipped off the vehicle. Instead of following Jiang Xia and Staff Officer Xie straight to the Red Brick Communications Section, he straightened his collar, and with a flash, silently merged into the secluded path leading to the Green Building, disappearing into the shade of the trees.
When the two rushed into the communications section, the duty officer, Xiao Zhang, was practicing with the encrypted radio.
"Thank you, Staff Officer!" Seeing the anxious expressions on their faces, Xiao Zhang immediately stood up and saluted. "What emergency has occurred?"
"Activate the 'Mount Tai' level encrypted channel! Call 'Yuejin' with the highest priority!" Staff Officer Xie flashed his badge. "Engineer Jiang has discovered a major technical risk; we must contact them immediately! I'll sign the communication consent form right away!"
"Yes!"
Xiao Zhang didn't dare to be negligent. His fingers flew across the silver-gray radio panel, and the red "transmit" indicator light suddenly lit up.
"Yuejin, Yuejin, this is the Beihai Tiger's Den calling. Please respond immediately! Repeat, Beihai Tiger's Den is calling 'Yuejin'! Please respond upon receipt!"
The speaker emitted only a buzzing sound, like countless tiny needles pricking his eardrums. Xiao Zhang called continuously for ten minutes, switching from the main channel to the backup channel and even trying the emergency call frequency, but there was still no response. He took off his headset, his forehead covered in sweat.
"Engineer Jiang, Staff Officer Xie, we've tried all the preset and backup encrypted channels, but there's been no response at all. Theoretically, the test vessel must keep at least one encrypted channel on standby."
They might have entered a signal blind spot in the Changshan Islands, or... there might have been a genuine emergency on board, and no one was on duty at the radio station.
For those of you who are far from home, the people who will always miss you the most are your elderly parents back home.
Although this long voyage is not led by the navy, it is filled with our own compatriots!
Hearing Xiao Zhang's ominous analysis, even Staff Officer Xie's heart clenched, and his face became even more grim.
"We can't wait any longer!" Jiang Xia suddenly sat up straight and said to Staff Officer Xie, "We must send a fast patrol boat to the test area! Even just to see what's going on would be helpful!"
Upon hearing this, Staff Officer Xie gave an extremely helpless smile: "Send a ship? Engineer Jiang, where to send it? We don't even know its exact location or which route it's on!"
"You don't know either!"
"Yes! A dedicated person is in charge! Engineer Jiang, on the open sea, even a 10,000-ton ship is far too insignificant..."
"If you don't know, then ask!" Jiang Xia blurted out.
"Ask? You make it sound so easy!" Staff Officer Xie sighed, pointing to the secrecy regulations posted on the wall. "If it were so easy to find out, it wouldn't be a classified flight route! The route planning for this test voyage is of a very high level, with special procedures..."
Although he said that, his gaze swept over the badge on Jiang Xia's chest that represented extremely high authority and trust, and after hesitating for a moment, he still picked up the internal phone on the table.
"I'll try contacting the Navigation Assurance Department."
After the call was connected, Staff Officer Xie cautiously inquired about the specific information regarding the "Yuejin" test voyage route.
However, the other party's reply made him look rather unhappy.
"Hello? Navigation Assurance Department? This is Xie Jianguo. It's an emergency; we need to verify the final confirmed route map for the 'Yuejin' ship's sea trials..."
The conversation was clear from the other end of the phone.
Staff Officer Xie: "Yes, it's extremely urgent, communications are completely cut off... What? The route planning was done by Senior Engineer Wang alone? The nautical charts were transmitted directly to the 'Yuejin' by telephone?"
No copy kept? ... Senior Engineer Wang went to the Maritime Surveillance Bureau to complete the final route registration, and hasn't returned yet? Can't be contacted? ...
Okay, I understand.
Holding the phone, Staff Officer Xie's expression grew even more grim. He shook his head at Jiang Xia: "This is troublesome. The route was single-handedly determined by Senior Engineer Wang from the Navigation Assurance Department, using a 'single-line confidentiality' method. We don't have a backup."
Furthermore, Senior Engineer Wang went to the Maritime Surveillance Bureau early this morning to complete the final route registration procedures, and as of now... he hasn't returned and we can't contact him.
One person in charge, single-line communication, key figure missing!
This is no coincidence!
But that's not the important thing right now!
The ocean is vast. Although he remembered the accident ultimately occurred near Suyan Reef, it was impossible to send people directly to Suyan Reef to lie in wait and issue a warning. This 10,000-ton giant ship was not a small car; the distance for emergency braking was often measured in kilometers, making it impossible to stop or change course in a short time!
Just as the atmosphere in the communications room was almost frozen, a series of noisy commotions came through the telephone receiver next to Staff Officer Xie, interspersed with several clear shouts of "Don't move!"
Jiang Xia's ears twitched, and he recognized that the deep voice belonged to Old Wang!
When it really matters, it's always you, my good brother!
A few seconds later, Lao Wang's slightly breathless but unusually steady voice came clearly from the microphone, indicating that he had taken control of the communication equipment on the other end:
"Hello! Staff Officer Xie? Is Jiang Xia here?"
listen!
At the bottom of Wang Fuhai's desk drawer, I found an old British nautical chart with pencil marks on it!
It's very well hidden, but you can tell that the route roughly passes through Asahi Island, then points to around 32°N, 124°E, and the final direction seems to be the Osumi Strait!
Repeat, Asahi Island—32°N, 124°E—Osumi Strait!
"Jiang Xia, don't worry. I've brought the situation under control here and contacted the Maritime Safety Administration to assist with the investigation. I'll let you know as soon as I have any further updates!"
"By the way, is your navigation assurance department really that shabby? Still using lobster-man charts from over ten years ago?"
Upon hearing this, Staff Officer Xie ignored Old Wang's last teasing remark.
He immediately rushed to the large nautical chart on the wall and quickly marked the key locations reported by Lao Wang with colored pins.
A clear, distinctly off-the-beaten-path route for merchant ships has emerged, its direction faintly pointing towards that dangerous waterway riddled with reefs!
"Damn it! This line... there really is something wrong with it!" Staff Officer Xie cursed, his face turning even uglier.
"What's wrong? Send a high-speed boat over there quickly! I remember Factory 315 specially supplied you with a few of them, right?"
Staff Officer Xie shook his head dejectedly: "They've gone on a mission!"
"The fleet has absolutely no ships to send! All the speedboats that can go high have been sent to escort the IEC delegation's landing ship south!"
Even two of the "Four Great Kings" ships went along under the guise of a patrol!
Of the remaining two, one is undergoing 'Sea Rider' second-generation conversion in the dock and cannot be moved.
The other ship is undergoing a major boiler overhaul, and it can't even start a fire! We're like a skilled cook without rice to cook!
"Aren't there any other ships? There are still minesweepers!"
"Uh... it's also undergoing major repairs. After the enemy submarine hit us with a ball last time, the minesweeper has been sitting on the slipway and hasn't come down..."
Damn! They still lack sufficient foundation!
Jiang Xia was somewhat annoyed that he had taken a few days off in Northeast China. If he had come earlier to study that hydrofoil, maybe it could have been modified and put to use now!
All conventional rescue routes appear to be blocked.
There are no fast boats at sea...
So, where can we find rescue forces?